Sunset Park deserves a safer Third Avenue

Ángela Azzolino, Katie Walsh

Sunset Park deserves a safer Third Avenue
A single crossing guard helps keep children safe at Third Avenue and 59th Street during school pickup and drop-off, just a few blocks from where Jiayi Zheng was struck.

The people of Sunset Park deserve to cross our streets without fear and trust that the City will respond when we say our lives are at risk. We have advocated for years for a safer Third Avenue to prevent the deaths and injuries that occur routinely on this dangerous corridor. And on Saturday, August 29, 2026, another family is now facing a loss no one should have to endure.

Jiayi Zheng was killed by a driver on Third Avenue, walking back from her shift as a nurse at NYU hospital. It was 7:30 a.m. and the 28-year-old was struck by a car as she started to cross Third Avenue at 55th Street, later dying at the hospital where she worked.

Our community is mourning, and we are struggling with the knowledge that we have spent years asking the City to prevent tragedies like this to no avail. There was a plan to put life-saving infrastructure on Third Avenue in 2024, before it was put on hold by the last administration, after a phone call from the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce delayed the entire plan.

For years, Sunset Park residents have been left to navigate dangerous streets filled with traffic and breathe polluted air while waiting for the City to act. We have raised concerns, advocated for improvements, participated in planning processes, and watched as more families have been forced to grieve. And then in September 2026 the City formalized another truck route addition in Sunset Park on Second Avenue, in spite of the response from the local community.

This historic neglect is appalling and cannot continue.

In the last five years, on just the stretch of Third Avenue between 65th Street and 36th Street, 25 people have been killed or seriously injured in crashes, including seven pedestrians and three cyclists. Four of these crashes were fatal. Meanwhile, on the 50 mph highway above Third Avenue, there were only 10 fatalities and serious injuries in the same period, and only one crash was fatal. Third Avenue is 2.5 times as dangerous as that stretch of the BQE above it.

Third Avenue in Sunset Park is part of our daily lives, not simply a corridor for traffic bisecting the neighborhood or the underbelly of an urban highway. It is where we work, where our children walk and bike to school, where we visit neighbors, access businesses and the waterfront, and shop for groceries. With new schools serving hundreds of children along Third Avenue, our youngest residents are among those navigating this corridor every day. The people put at risk here are our family members, friends, coworkers, elders, children, and neighbors.

We can never undo these losses, but the Mamdani administration can act now to prevent more of them and move forward urgently with a redesign of Third Avenue that makes it safe. Sunset Park neighbors, business owners, healthcare workers, school officials and community groups by the dozens have signed onto a community letter asking for this administration to take action.

You can still sign the community letter.

You can also join us for a Third Avenue Community Action Safety Walk on Sunday, October 18, at 2 p.m., meeting at Martin Luther Playground on Second Avenue between 55th Street and 56th Street, where we will make our voices heard calling for a safer Third Avenue.

Until then, we call on our community to take photos and videos and share on social media the unsafe conditions you see on this avenue every day. Call our elected officials to tell them you want a safer Third Avenue. Join the Community Action Safety Walk. Join us to #Fix3rdAve.

As we mourn, we want the City to meet our grief with action. Our community deserves a clear plan, a firm timeline, and a Third Avenue that we can all feel safe on.